The acting world has been left devastated by the tragic news that French star Gaspard Ulliel has passed away following a skiing accident while he was holidaying with his young family.
The acclaimed actor – who was also a model for Chanel – died at Grenoble hospital in the South of France aged just 37 and leaves behind 30-year-old girlfriend Gaëlle Piétri and their six-year-old son, Orso.
The trio had been enjoying a winter holiday together, taking in the sights and slopes of the snow covered Alps, before tragedy struck.
The proud parents celebrated Orso turning six years old just last week – while Gaspard looked set to become known to millions of new fans around the world as the first trailer for his new Marvel show, Moon Knight, was released the day before his death.
While Gaspard himself didn’t keep any social media accounts, Gaëlle – who he had been dating since 2013 – has an active Instagram account and recently shared highlights of their son enjoying their ski trip.
Sharing footage of the young lad performing a snowplough while skiing between marker points, Gaëlle wrote: “And just like that… BAM,” alongside an explosion emoji.
She added: “Six years already!!! happy birthday love of my life.”
Gaëlle has often shared tender moments of Gaspard with his son via her Instagram page.
Last year she shared a photo of the father and son hugging while in a garden together alongside the caption: “True, Pure & Unconditional LOVE.”
On Tuesday, Marvel fans became excited about the upcoming release of new series Moon Night which is set to see Gaspard in the role of Anton Mogart, aka Midnight Man, a thief-turned vigilante.
The series sees Oscar Isaac in the lead role as supernatural hero Marc Spector, the man beneath the Moon Knight identity, with Ethan Hawke in the cast as cult leader Arthur Harrow.
The film is the first new Marvel series of the year and is expected to introduce comic book characters in the TV show who will then move into big screen adventures.
Fans have taken to social media to express their shock and sadness at the news of Gaspard's death, with one tweeting: “He was a great actor, I can’t wait to see him in Moon Knight, such a shame that he’s gone.”
Gaspard was born in Paris in November 1984 and started acting while still at school.
He rose to prominence in 2004 playing a character named Manech Langonnet in the Oscar nominated film A Very Long Engagement – co-starring Audrey Tautou and Marion Cotillard – for which he won the César Award for Most Promising Actor.
In 2006, he starred in the celebrity filled anthology film Paris, je t'aime in a segment directed by Gus Van Sant and performing alongside Marianne Faithfull.
Horror fans will recall him playing Hannibal Lecter in the 2007 film Hannibal Rising – while in 2014 he won acclaim for playing Yves Saint Laurent in the biopic Saint Laurent.
He won a Cesar Award for Best Actor for his role as Louis in the 2016 film It’s Only the End of the World – directed by Canadian star Xavier Dolan.
Moon Knight is due to star airing on Disney+ on March 10th.
